Forever Indebted
by A Lucky Soldier
Summary: Naegi Makoto has always been indebted to Ikusaba Mukuro in his daily school life. One day after class however, he found himself in a situation where he'll never be able to repay this debt.
1. Prologue

**Author's Notes:**

Just some information about this AU:  
-Junko is not despair  
-Pre-game/ Non-Despair AU  
-I hope I got the Japanese Honorifics right...  
-Enjoy!

 **Prologue**

Makoto Naegi sat on his bed thinking about all the misfortunes that could have happened to him throughout the day. For a student who was gifted the title SHSL Lucky Student, he thought that today was anything but lucky. He thought about how he almost ended up tripping down the stairs after his last class of the day. He thought about how he almost got hit by a stray pool ball in the rec room during break or how he almost got cut by a stray piece of a ceramic pot when it shattered on the ground. He thought about seven more scenarios throughout the day at how he almost got himself injured in bizarre ways. Makoto chuckled at the amount of disasters he almost got himself into.

The keyword Makoto thought, was "almost". Every time his luck decided to betray him, someone would be there to protect him. That person, his savior and his friend, was none other than the SHSL Soldier in his class: Mukuro Ikusaba.

Makoto remembered the first day he had seen her. He had decided to go to his class early since it's the first day of school at Hope's Peak Academy, a school that housed the most talented high schoolers in the country, and he didn't want to look more average than he already was. When he opened the doors to his class, he spotted the raven haired girl sitting in one of the desks near the back returning his gaze with an expressionless face. She was wearing the school uniform up to standard with the exception of a unique kind of black boots.

He thought his first impression should be a good one so he waved "good morning" and gave her his normal bright and genuine smile. At first he was expecting a greeting of sorts but when he looked back at her, her attention has already returned to the book she was reading. However, he could have sworn that girl's cheeks were tainted light pink and that there was the slightest smile on her face as she read the book.

During introductions later that day, Makoto noticed that the raven haired girl was staring at him intensely as he introduced himself as the SHSL Lucky Student. He didn't know why he received such an intense stare and thought that maybe that was just her natural face. When it was her turn for the introductions, he also noticed that while she was facing the front, her eyes darted towards him from time to time.

Unlike most of the class however, her introduction was short: "Mukuro Ikusaba, SHSL Soldier" was all she said. Makoto was surprised to hear her talent. When he first saw her, he would have never expected her as a soldier, maybe a parkour artist from the odd boots, but not a soldier. He unconsciously smiled as he thought about how amazing she could be considering her experiences with her talent. Wanting to know more about her, he resolved to talk to her afterschool and hoped to learn more about her.

When his first school day was finally over, Makoto remembered the first time that he has been saved from his horrendous luck. He had spotted her just leaving the building as he had been waiting outside looking for her. "Ikusaba-san!" He called out and waved his hand. Once he got her attention, he started to make his way over only to be surprised as she started running at him.

The next thing he registered was that he was on the ground and a shattering sound was heard nearby. When Makoto turned to the source of the sound, he saw what he assumed to be a broken pot that must have fallen from the windowsill of a classroom. Still reeling from the shock of the impact, his eyes slowly widened as he started connecting the dots and realized that he had been standing there just earlier. It was then that he realized Mukuro was still on top of him scanning for injuries, and he started to feel slightly uncomfortable as his face started getting warmer and his pulse was a lot faster too. Not to mention that this incident also left a few bystanders still looking at the two on the ground.

Mukuro must have sensed his discomfort as she finally got off of him, and offered her hand to help him up. He was easily hoisted back onto his feet and the two stood there not saying anything as the awkwardness between them settled in. After what seemed like an eternity, the silence was finally broken by the soft but expressionless voice of the ex-soldier.

"Are you injured?"

"No.. I-I'm fine now!"

"…"

"Uhm, thanks for saving me Ikusaba-san!" Makoto gave her another bright smile.

"… Its fine." Mukuro looked to the side, hiding a blush on her face. "I-I've got to go." She said as she turned away and started walking.

"I'll see you tomorrow then!" Makoto cheered at the soldier who was walking away. What he didn't see was the tiny smile on her face as she left the area.

Ever since that incident, every time Makoto had something happen to him, Mukuro would happen to be there to save him. Before long, the two had started a unique friendship that involved one constantly saving the other, and the latter smiling and thanking the first. After a few more incidents, Mukuro decided to escort Makoto to class whenever Junko didn't need her around.

In a few weeks, Makoto would soon eat lunch with the twin sisters and if he was lucky, Junko would be messing with his other classmates leaving him alone with Mukuro. Mukuro was a quiet person, so Makoto ended up doing most of the talking whenever they were together. He didn't mind the fact that he did most of the talking, after all, he didn't want to force her to talk.

To anyone else seeing them together, it may look like Mukuro was extremely bored while Makoto would talk about his day, but no one other than themselves knew that she was actually listening, and her lips were ever so slightly curved upwards. Soon after, Makoto started to feel excited to see Mukuro. He didn't know why, but when they were together, he felt happy. And he felt especially happy whenever he was able to make Mukuro smile or even laugh since it was usually rare to see any emotion on her face.

He then recalled the events that had happened today. He remembered the relief he felt when Mukuro stopped him from falling down the stairs. He remembered turning to Mondo yelling "OH SHIT!" then seeing Mukuro's hand holding onto a white ball in front of his face. He remembered hearing something shattering in literature class and when he turned around, and saw Mukuro pinching a piece of ceramic just under his chin.

Makoto smiled as he recalled those moments. He would smile at her and she would return the gesture. It was rare to see Mukuro not wear her expressionless face but when he was around her, she'd show slightly more emotion. She'd sometimes smile, look away to hide her blush or stare at him wide-eyed with concern. While the last one made Makoto feel a little bit guilty, he couldn't help but think it was a bit cute.

" _Cute? Oh boy, why did I think that?_ " He thought. " _I mean… I suppose she is cute in her own way.. ARGH I do not need to be thinking about this right now!_ " He shook his head in an attempt to remove those thoughts and as he did, he remembered something else that had happened to him that didn't involve Mukuro saving him.

He was walking back to the dorm area with Mukuro when Yasuhiro came up to him looking a little more anxious than he usually did.

"Hey uh, Naegi-Chi! Can I talk to you for a bit?" He asked.

"Um, do you need help with homework again?"

"No! Nothing of that sort this time! A-Actually, I need you to accompany me afterschool tomorrow. It's important that you're with me."

"Accompany you? What for?"

"Oh it's nothing bad! I promise! I just need to pay a debt that I owe but I get really nervous so I need you to come with me."

"I.. uh.. don't know why you would choose me though... I'm just as average as anyone gets haha"

"Oh please Naegi-Chi, that's precisely the reason I need you to come with me!"

"Well...It doesn't sound too bad.. I guess I can come with you.."

"Alright! I'll see you tomorrow then! Thanks a lot Naegi-Chi!"

"Wait! Um, If I may, who do you owe this debt to? What did you do?"

"Ahahahaha! Ahhh… that's er… well.. you'll find out tomorrow! I promise we'll be done before you know it!"

And with that, Yasuhiro turned and returned to his room before Makoto had a chance to ask for more details.

"That was odd." Mukuro noted.

"I guess so, but he did seem like he really needed me. I'll just have to trust him I suppose."

"Are you having second thoughts Naegi-kun?"

"Well, I can't say I'm a little bit nervous from the lack of details but I'll be fine. I guess I'll see you tomorrow in class then!"

"If you say so. See you Naegi-Kun."

After doing his homework for three hours, Makoto has found himself on his bed reflecting upon the events of the day, especially Yasuhiro's favour as he is still slightly concerned from the lack of details. Now that he thought about it, Yasuhiro did look a little more anxious than usual. He couldn't help but wonder what has Yasuhiro done for him to owe someone something that would make him all nervous he tell a bad fortune to someone? Maybe Yasuhiro scammed someone of their money? It has to be money related right? At the idea of owing money, Makoto decided to not think about how much Yasuhiro could have possibly owed another person knowing that his fortune telling costs are through the roof.

Speaking of owing another person, Makoto then remembered how much he owed Mukuro for all the times that she had saved him. It was an incredibly large debt to owe since he would have at least three misfortunes throughout one day and he thought that he should start finding ways to repay her. What he didn't know as he grabbed his phone to message her for a hangout after dealing with Yasuhiro, was that his debt was about to skyrocket the next day.

Mukuro sat at her desk inside her room still thinking about the piece of ceramic that had almost dug itself into the back of Makoto's neck. " _Close. That was too close._ " She thought. While at the time his smile may have lifted all her worries and concern, she couldn't stop thinking about how close Makoto was to being injured. She replayed the scene over and over in her head, each time she thought about how she could have reacted faster, or prevented the pot from shattering or at the very least, stopping the piece of ceramic before it got THAT close to him. She closed her eyes as she went through the simulation again.

It was the last class of the day and the teacher was hastily concluding her lesson due to time constraints. The clock in the room showed the time as "2:53 PM", seven minutes until school ended. Her gaze went from the clock to the back of Makoto's head, his bright smile suddenly entering her mind. She relaxed herself as she focussed on the imaginary smile that made her heart flutter. Because she was so distracted by that smile, she barely registered the breeze that entered the classroom, followed by a shattering sound to her left.

Time slowed down as her instincts kicked in. She snapped her head to the left and saw the pot already shattered on the floor, stray pieces flying in different directions. Her eyes widened at one specific piece of ceramic as it flew a certain trajectory: towards Makoto's neck. As she followed that shard of ceramic, she noticed that it was larger than the others and a pointed end was leading the flight.

She noted that if it hit its mark, it could be fatal. To make matter worse, the shard had just flew past her head as she made her analysis. Focussing entirely on the flying piece of ceramic, her right arm finally acted, dropping her pencil, and shot forward after the sharp piece of ceramic. She stared wide-eyed as she managed to pinch it with two fingers just 3 inches off of his neck.

* * *

" _That was too close… just a little bit slower and that could have caused some major damage… or worse.._ "

She remembered the way Makoto looked at her when he finally turned around. His face was riddled with confusion at first, but quickly faded into a bright smile as he thanked her. During that moment, her inner turmoils subsided as she smiled back at him. In hindsight however, that doesn't change the fact that she almost failed to protect him.

She slammed her fist down on her desk in frustration, causing tip of her pencil to shatter and leaving pieces of graphite laying around as well as a small dark dent on her desk. She sighed as she put the pencil down and looked out the window, her lips slightly curved upwards as a faint reflection of his smile appeared on the glass. However, just as the smile appeared, it faded away as she remembered something odd throughout the day.

While she barely pays attention to anyone else that wasn't the teacher, Junko and now, Makoto, she noticed that Yasuhiro was a little more jumpy than usual. Normally, she wouldn't care but it was weird that someone would be anxious and nervous around Makoto. From her observations, everyone else in the class seemed more at ease when talking to the lucky student, even Byakuya is slightly less cold towards him.

She didn't know why she was concerned about such a small detail, but it still bothered her nonetheless. Mukuro was especially suspicious of Yasuhiro's request though. It had too many unknown factors for her. Who did Yasuhiro owe? Where are they going to meet? Why specifically Naegi? Her thoughts were interrupted by the growing sound of pounding coming from her door. She then realized that the pounding noise has been there for a little while.

"Hey sis! Open up already! How long are you gonna keep me waiting here?" Junko wailed from beyond her door.

Mukuro rose from her seat and quickly opened the door only to be greeted by a unhappy Junko.

"What the hell Mukuro? I was pounding on your door forever! God why are you so disappointing? What the FUCK were you even doing?"

Mukuro looked down. "I'm sorry. I was preoccupied with some thoughts."

"Preoccupied? That's a rare sight. I didn't know there were things out there that can make you zone out."

"It was nothing important." Mukuro bit her lower lip as those words came out.

"Oh? I didn't know you could lie sis. I could tell that it was INDEED important. Otherwise, you wouldn't have ignored me outside your door."

"I—" Mukuro instinctively took a pace back

"Was it about Naegi?" Junko inched closer as she asked the question.

"Huh? No, I –" Mukuro started, but couldn't formulate a reply

"What's this? Did you start considering Naegi to be more important than me now? To think that my disappointing older sister finally have the guts to value someone else more than her dear sister! Are you going to abandon me again Mukuro~?" Junko teased at her with sad puppy eyes.

"I.. It's not like that! I'm sorry! I—" Mukuro stopped as she realized that her twin was now laughing hysterically, clutching her stomach in an attempt to stop herself.

"J-Junko?"

It took Junko another twenty seconds to finally stop laughing and stand up again.

"Oh my god Mukuro, I was just teasing you! If there's one thing you don't disappoint in, it's your reactions!" Junko started to laugh again.

Mukuro stiffened, no longer sure what Junko was going to do.

"Jeez, relax sis. It's like you're afraid that I'm going to murder you for that thought. Well, it's not like I didn't kill you somewhere else, but that's irrelevant."

Confusion struck Mukuro at the odd comment.

"Anyways, back to the point: you like Naegi don't you?" Junko teasingly asked

A look of shock appeared on Mukuro's face as she registered the question. She instinctively took another step backwards and started:

"Wha.. I.. We're just friends Junko!"

"C'mon Muku, just about everyone knows that you've been intentionally looking out for him since day two."

"Wh..What?"

"Really? Are you sure you're not thinking about what happened during literature class?"

"I-Huh? How did you—"

"OH MY GOD! You really were thinking about him!"

Mukuro stared at Junko, completely lost at how to react.

Junko sighed "Really Mukuro? Man, you are sooooo disappointing. You can't even react like a normal girl anymore. Also, you'd think I wouldn't notice how you sometimes stare at the back of his head? You'd think I didn't see the look on your face when you pinched that piece of ceramic? How about your reaction every time he smiles at you? And not to mention, it took you eleven seconds to answer the door than your usual three seconds and I can see that dent on your desk from here. Now, being the wonderful sister than I am, that dent on the desk is telling me that you have been upset about something. Now tell me." Junko finally dropped her antics, put her hands on her hips and looked patiently at Mukuro.

"I… uh.." Mukuro struggled with the words, still trying to formulate a response in her head.

"Soldier, I asked you to give me a report now!" Junko suddenly yelled with an authoritative voice.

Mukuro's instantly snapped to attention and started to report:

"The incident happened at 1453 hours sir! A breeze blew into the classroom and knocked over a ceramic pot. The pot smashed and one of the pieces flew towards Naegi-kun's neck. I reacted and managed to stop it three inches from his neck however, I am not satisfied with my performance and was just going through simulations in my head sir!"

Upon finishing the report, Mukuro looked down, her eyes softening and muttered

"It was too close.."

Junko recoiled at the sudden remark.

"Hey hey! It's important that you did save him right? God, stop sulking! It's so despairingly depressing when you look like that!"

"But I—"

"Look. He's fine, you're fine, it's just a broken pot. Get over it jeez!"

"I—I'll try…"

"Alright, but hey… you DO like him right?"

Mukuro didn't answer. She wasn't sure how she felt about him. While she admits that she gets excited to see him, she wasn't sure if that meant she liked him in that sense. She wasn't sure if that weird feeling in her stomach was a sign that she liked him, or that her heart beating faster every time they're together is a sign that she liked him. Not to mention the warmth in her cheeks, irregular breaths, lapses in judgement and awkward fidgeting when she is with him. If those signs were to signal something, Mukuro didn't know. But at the same time, it's not like she disliked him in anyway.

"I don't know." Mukuro finally replied

"Say Muku~, what if I told you that Maizono asked him to go on a date tomorrow?" Junko teased.

For a second, there was a sharp pain in Mukuro's heart at the thought of Sayaka and Makoto together on a date. She clenched her fists and bit her lower lip as a natural response to the thought.

"Wait, that shouldn't be possible…" Mukuro thought as she remembered that Yasuhiro had asked Makoto to accompany him somewhere.

"That's impossible. Naegi-kun has agreed to go with Yasuhiro afterschool tomorrow. And I was with him the entire afternoon. There's no way she could've asked him." Mukuro stated.

Junko's eyes widened for a split second as she wasn't prepared for that reply, but quickly composed herself once she took in the new information.

"Alright you got me there. Silly me, of course you'd be with him. But! You're still not off the hook yet" Junko replied with a sly smile. "Look at you, you look like you wanna go kill someone! You're going to tell me that you don't like him after that?" She teased.

Mukuro realizing this, relaxed her hands and looked to the side, a faint blush forming on her face.

"GYAAAH! Is that a blush I see?! That settles it!"

"Junko… I—" Mukuro started but was quickly interrupted by her younger twin

"Alright Mukuro, tomorrow we are going shopping! If you're going to get into a relationship with Naegi, I can't have you disappointing me AND him with the boring crap you wear. It doesn't even make sense to wear a bulletproof vest in a school environment! UGH What is wrong with you?"

"It's efficient… it has pockets and—" Mukuro tried to explain but was once again interrupted

"STOP! I don't want to hear it. You're absolutely not going to wear that after I'm done with you tomorrow. You're coming with me and you don't have a choice, got it?"

"Aren't you just going on your usual shopping spree?" Mukuro sighed as she recognized her sister's ulterior motive.

"THAT IS BESIDES THE POINT. Also, I'm doing this for your sake. Naegi's going to be sooo disappointed with what you currently have, and I can't stand you disappointing other people. ESPECIALLY him. [Besides, he's going to love what he sees]."

"What was that?"

"NOTHING! So are you coming or not? You REALLY need more outfits if you wanna look normal."

Mukuro thought about the idea that she doesn't have enough outfits for school. It was true that she only had her school uniform, military grade gear and two "normal" outfits that Junko forced onto her but if it was a social norm to have more sets of outfits, then it shouldn't be that bad. Seeing no harm in going with Junko as she seems really eager to, Mukuro just nodded her head.

"Alright that's settled. See you tomorrow then. AND DON'T BE LATE" Junko then turned and left, excited about the trip tomorrow.

Mukuro sighed as she closed the door and walked towards her bed. As she stared down at her sheets, she thought about the idea of her and Makoto together. While she didn't understand relationships much, the idea of it alone left Mukuro subconsciously smiling at an image of Makoto and herself walking side by side.

"I suppose… I would like that." She thought. "It would be …. Nice."

She was pulled from her thoughts as her phone vibrated in her pocket. As she fished it out, there was a message from none other than Makoto himself.

" _Hey Ikusaba-san! I hope I'm not bothering you but, if you're not busy tomorrow, would you like to accompany me to go with Yasuhiro? I'm sure he wouldn't mind and we can go do something fun when that's done! After all, I still kinda owe you for saving me yesterday._ "

Mukuro gasped as her heart skipped a beat at the message. The idea of her being able to spend time with Makoto was very tempting. It made her feel happy. Before she replied with a "That sounds like a good idea", she frowned as she remembered that she agreed to spend time with Junko instead.

" _Sorry Naegi-kun. Junko wants to go look for more outfits tomorrow and I promised to accompany her_ "

" _Ah, that's unfortunate then. I'll think of another time where I can repay you but it's getting late now so I'll talk to you later Ikusaba-san!_ "

Mukuro didn't know how to reply to that message so she put her phone down and looked at the time. 2157 was written on her digital alarm clock that sat on her desk. The nighttime announcement was going to happen soon and most of the school facilities are going to be closed for the night. She then decided to call it a day considering that she was mentally exhausted from everything that has happened. As she closed her eyes, her thoughts drifted to the idea that Makoto felt the need to repay her for saving him all the time. She slowly slipped into her slumber with a smile as she thought about the different ways he could possibly repay her. Little did Mukuro know that, within the next twenty-four hours, Makoto would end up owing her a lot more than he did now.


	2. A Dance of Trust, Lies and Betrayal

**A Dance of Trust, Lies, and Betrayal**

BEEEEEEP!

An alarm rung throughout Hope's Peak Academy, signalling the end of the day. Students left and right packed up their books and started leaving the classroom, ready to enjoy their weekends in their own different ways. Makoto had just finished packing his textbook into his bag when Yasuhiro came up to him.

"Hey, you didn't forget about yesterday r-right?"

"No! Well, I am nervous about it since you didn't tell me anything, but I did promise to come"

"Woah Naegi-Chi! I can't have you be nervous about this too! Who's going to help me stay calm then?"

"Alright alright! But can you at least tell me who we're meeting?"

"Ugghh fine. It's just some girl. You really don't need to worry about this. You're not the one who owes someone."

If Makoto was in any other normal school, he wouldn't have worried. But since he's attending Hope's Peak Academy, where girls happened to be soldiers, detectives, and kendo masters, that last statement really didn't help calm his nerves. Heck, even the senpai who was shorter than him known as the SHSL Traditional Dancer scared him and her talent had nothing to do with it.

"Weeelll… that's not saying much, but I'll try." Makoto scratched the back of his neck, obviously still a little bit nervous.

"Okay! I'll see you in a bit then! Meet me at the front gates in about an hour. Later Naegi-Chi!" Yasuhiro quickly fled away from the classroom as Makoto barely waved "good-bye".

Makoto let out a sigh of relief as the final class has ended, and yet for some reason, he still feels tense. Usually, SOMETHING would have happened to him by now but for some odd twist of fate, his luck has yet to betray him today. "This can't be good…." He thought as he noticed that his day has been flawless save for his academic struggles.

As he finally stood up ready to leave the classroom, Mukuro was already waiting by the door, ready to 'escort' him back to his room. He smiled at her as he left the class and started walking beside the soldier. They continued in comfortable silence until Mukuro decided to speak up.

"Odd. Nothing's happened to you yet Naegi-Kun." She commented.

Makoto winced at her comment. "Well, I suppose even I have my lucky days. I'm honestly surprised myself that nothing's happened to me yet. Not that I want something to but it is a nice change of pace." His ahoge twitched as he spoke those words.

Mukuro turned and raised a brow. "Is that even possible?"

"Yea of course! My luck doesn't haunt me all the time" Makoto lied again, feeling guilty that Mukuro was still looking out for him.

Ever since he had received the letter of acceptance into Hope's Peak Academy as the SHSL Lucky Student, his life has been anything but lucky. While most of the time his luck only caused minor inconveniences, there were rare moments where his 'luck' would "build up" as Makoto would put it and something really bad would happen. Today would be no exception to this phenomenon and Makoto knows that sometime later today, he's going to get hit hard.

Mukuro didn't reply as she looked at him as if she caught his lie. Makoto's palms started sweating and his ahoge twitched again at the sudden tension he's feeling from her gaze.

Finally, she turned to face the front again. "If you say so then. I suppose it is possible for you to have a normal day once in a while." She spoke with her usual cold voice.

Makoto felt his insides relax a little bit, but still feeling extremely guilty for lying to his best friend. Mukuro has been constantly looking out for him and for once, he wanted to try to prevent disaster by himself. After all, he didn't want to become a burden to someone else.

Mukuro suddenly started to walk a little faster, causing Makoto to speed-walk in order to stay by her side.

"I-Ikusaba-san!"

"Hmm?"

"A-Are you in a hurry?"

"…" Mukuro stared blankly ahead, still slowly increasing her pace.

"Um, I suppose you don't have to ans-" Makoto was then interrupted.

"Remember how I promised Junko to accompany her on her outfit shopping?"

Makoto simply nodded, slightly out of breath for words as he struggled to keep up with the pace.

"She also has a tendency to spontaneously change the meeting time. I just have a feeling that she's going to do it again."

"O-Oh *breath* I see…"

They continued in silence until they finally arrived in front of Mukuro's room.

"I'll need to prepare for the outing Naegi-kun. I'll see you later."

As Mukuro reached for the door, Makoto suddenly asked:

"Is something wrong Ikusaba-san?"

"… Why do you think that?"

"I—It might just be me, but you seemed a little bit off just now… Did something happen?"

"It was just your imagination. You should get ready to meet Hagakure-kun as well."

"Um alright. I'll see you later then."

Makoto watched as Mukuro entered her room and closed the door behind her. Guilt stabbed at his heart from the lie he told earlier. He turned and started making his way back to his room down the hall, his mind flooded with doubt, shame and regret. " _Was she mad at me?_ " " _Did she catch my lie?_ " were some questions that immediately filled his head as he put his bag down next to his bed.

" _What if she knew I lied?_ " " _What if she hates me now?_ " He continued as he changed out of his school uniform and into his trademark hoodie.

" _Did I ruin our friendship?_ " He paused as he reached for the doorknob, ready to leave. The pain in his chest seemed to increase tenfold at this thought.

" _That's not going to happen is it?_ " Makoto attempted to shake this feeling off as his tried to command his hand to open the door.

" _She doesn't deserve me lying to her like this… I think I need to tell her_ " He thought as his hand finally complied and turned the knob. However, Makoto's plan was quickly forgotten as he found Yasuhiro in front of him with a raised fist and surprise written all over his face.

* * *

Mukuro bit her lower lip as she sat on her bed, one hand gripping the hem of her skirt and the other bawled into a fist by her chest. A dreadful feeling clouded her mind and made her heart uncomfortable. It was a similar feeling to whenever one of the highly-valued-individuals she escorted during her time in Fenrir, lied about information. Except this time, the feeling was overwhelming.

She was conflicted on how to feel about Makoto lying. If Mukuro was honest, she wasn't even sure if that could be a lie. Statistically, it wasn't possible for Makoto to have a day without something happening to him, no matter how minor it may be. But at the same time, it also wasn't impossible that one day, he would have nothing extraordinary happen to him.

The thought of Makoto keeping something from her however, made her think about her decision to trust him and dismiss the lie. If she decided to trust him, why did she still feel so insecure? Mukuro was well aware that everyone has their own secrets to keep, and while Makoto has been honest at just about anything, she still couldn't dismiss this feeling of dread that boiled inside her.

Mukuro pulled out her favourite combat knife. Whenever she started fidgeting with and twirling the knife, it always helped calm her down. The dreadful feeling subsided a little as she continued to skillfully flourish her knife. It danced around her hand as it spun and rolled gracefully through the air as if it possessed a soul of its own.

After a couple minutes of playing with her knife, she realized that her insecurities still weren't satisfied. This has only occurred once before, Mukuro realized. It happened when she first joined Fenrir and wasn't sure about the safety of Junko until she received news of her twin becoming a famous model. Now this time, it was with Makoto.

She couldn't help but think that what if, something does happen to him and she's not there? Mukuro remembered one day when Makoto almost had a normal day without his luck interfering. He had decided to join Mukuro and Junko on her usual shopping spree when eight random thugs tried to attack him.

Mukuro later found out that, there were plans for an assassination, and the target's picture has been swapped with Makoto's after the target gang managed to tamper with the plans. The eight thugs were just doing a routine patrol when one of them recognized Makoto as their 'target' and they decided to take their chance, not knowing that there was an ex-Fenrir member with him.

Before she could start considering what could possibly happen to Makoto, Junko busted into her room, leaving a wide-eyed Mukuro staring at her twin.

"ALRIGHT Mukuro-Nee! Are you excited to come with the magnificent Junko on her shopping spree? My fans would kill for this chance and I'm offering it to you for free!"

"H-How did you get in here?"

"Silly, you left your door unlocked! So I took my chance to make a grand entrance here. You should be blown-away by my presence! Not sitting there complaining about how you forgot to lock your door!"

Junko sighed as she adopted a slightly more serious face.

"Its rather rare for you to forget to leave your door unlocked sis. Lost in thought again?" She asked

Mukuro stayed quiet, her eyes now stared at the floor as her doubt continued its assault. This was one of those times where Mukuro wished Junko wasn't so inherently good at analyzing things.

"Still thinking about him?"

"Huh? N-No I—"

Junko suddenly grabbed Mukuro by the arm and started dragging her out.

"C'mon Muku! As much as I'd like to let you sit there and sulk all day, there are much better things to do! Those clothes are waiting for me to come liberate them from their despair!"

Mukuro sighed as she nodded her head. She followed Junko as she was already out of the room, eager to "save the clothes from despair". They walked down the crowded halls of Hope's Peak Academy with Junko leading and ranting, and Mukuro silently followed behind. As they rounded the corner leading to the front gate of the academy, Mukuro spotted the familiar clairvoyant and the source of her internal chaos.

She froze when her eyes made contact with his. A mixed feeling of dread and relief returned as blue-eyes met hazel ones. Makoto stiffened for a second from the contact before giving her a wave and a forced smile. Mukuro didn't react, her mind occupied with uncertainty and her heart in a conflict of its own.

She then looked over at Yasuhiro, now looking at his phone for what she assumed to be directions to their meeting. His hands were shaking, his shoulders tensed up and… was one of his dreadlocks dripping with sweat? How does that even work?

Junko approached the two boys still standing just outside the school gates talking about their meeting as she never stopped walking.

"Yoo-hoo! Hey boys! What are you two up to?" Junko asked.

Yasuhiro jumped as Junko made her presence known. Makoto simply waved at her, though his eyes still darting between Junko and Mukuro.

"A-Ah! Naegi-Chi here was just going to help me with more school work today! R-Right?" Yasuhiro turned to Makoto with pleading eyes.

"Wait, huh? I thought we were—"

"Yea! That's it! A normal study hangout! Hahaha!"

"Hmm? You guys always study in one of your dorms like boring people though. Not to mention, that location you have on your phone is a rather weird spot for a study session…. Unless…. You two were thinking of something else~? Planning to get naughty~?" Junko winked.

Makoto recoiled and backed away from Yasuhiro, who simply gave an awkward laugh, oblivious to what Junko had just referred to.

"Something else? Nah! Like I said! Just a study session! I just made a mistake on my phone haaah!" Yasuhiro said nervously.

Junko, obviously not convinced, inched her head closer to Yasuhiro who looked like he was having an anxiety attack from her stare.

"R-R-Really!" Was all Yasuhiro could stutter.

Junko looked over at Makoto, hoping that he would confess what was going on. He returned the look with a sigh and simply nodded. Junko's eyes narrowed as her gaze returned to the clairvoyant.

"Fine. Go enjoy your study session then. Muku and I also have plans and we're going to have fun. Right Muku? … Mukuro?"

Junko turned around when she noticed that her twin was no longer behind her but instead, still standing by the door with an intense look on her face. She followed her gaze and saw the sight of Yasuhiro now dragging Makoto by the arm as he hurried away. When Junko turned back to Mukuro, her brows were slightly furrowed and her hands bawled into fists as she stared at the empty spot that Makoto had just occupied.

Understanding swept through Junko as she analyzed the situation. While she doesn't know all the details that were going on, she was at least able to understand that her twin was conflicted about something concerning Makoto. She walked back and started dragging Mukuro in the opposite direction of the two boys.

"Let's go Mukuro-Nee! Those clothes can't wait forever and I know just the perfect thing for you~! " She teased.

Mukuro walked in silence as her sister continued to spew out nonsense. She looked over her shoulder, expecting to see Makoto, only to be met by several groups of other students going their own ways. Her mind was full of conflicting feelings fighting each other, and for once, she couldn't predict the outcome of the battle.

They had arrived at the shopping district that was closest to Hope's Peak Academy, and Junko instantly started darting in and out of shops, the amount of bags increasing at a rapid rate. Mukuro didn't care much as she absentmindedly nodded whenever Junko asked her a question, completely absorbed by the war that occupied her mind.

Doubt and concern would strike each other down, trust and betrayal engaged in their own dance of death. Her consciousness fighting to calm herself down as her body tensed up, ready for action. Hatred pulling on one side of her heart while a certain feeling of yearning tugging on the other.

She looked back at Junko, now standing in front of three stores, deciding which to visit first. Mukuro bit her lip as she hesitated to speak. In all her life, Mukuro wasn't one to make decisions, but a certain nagging feeling that she wasn't able to control was now telling her otherwise.

"Junko…" Mukuro started.

"Hmm? Did you think of a place you wanna check out? That's not like you Mukuro, but I'm all ears!" Junko beamed.

"Actually, I—" Mukuro stopped. She really wanted to continue, but selfishness held her back.

Junko sighed.

"Look, if you're really that concerned about him, you should've just followed him. I was totally fine by myself anyways."

Mukuro looked up at Junko with raised brows and her eyes scanning her twin trying to judge if this was a façade or not.

"You've been looking like that the entire time we've been walking. Your face was soooo despairing even I can feel it from here. So just go. Leave. I won't hold it against you" Junko said.

A small glimmer of hope shimmered in Mukuro's eyes, but she still didn't give in yet. Was Junko testing her? Would she later explode at her for abandoning her again? Mukuro did promise to go with Junko but never before has it felt so conflicting to decide between two people.

Junko raised a brow as Mukuro still stood in front of her, conflict and uncertainty riddled on her face.

"Mukuro~, the longer you stand there, the longer little Naegi is going to be by himself you know."

The small look of hope that Mukuro had was instantly replaced by fear and concern. It was almost enough to make Mukuro move, but she needed to be absolutely sure that this wasn't just another one of her sister's tests. There was still a chance that this was an assessment of loyalty and Mukuro was not willing to betray her a second time.

Junko then placed her hands on her hips and with a voice of authority, yelled:

"Look Soldier! I gave you an order and I expect you to follow it! There is ZERO tolerance for disobedience so what the FUCK are you still doing standing there?"

Mukuro finally relaxed and gave a small smile, hope now gleaming in her eyes.

"Yes sir!" She replied as she turned and sprinted away. Mukuro's soldier mindset instantly kicked in as soon as she started running. She formed a plan in her head as her feet continued to carry her towards her objective.

Junko's face was instantly filled with disappointment as her twin was now two blocks away.

"Seriously? Only two words? God…. She could've at least thanked me. What a let down." She ranted. However, a small smirk formed on her face as she muttered:

"Go get em sis. Don't disappoint me."

* * *

Makoto spent most of the time walking with Yasuhiro in an uncomfortable silence. Yasuhiro was visibly anxious, more so than yesterday and the fact that they were speed-walking didn't help him either.

Any question Makoto threw at Yasuhiro concerning their meeting was met with "You'll find out later!" or "Don't worry about that!".

He looked over at the clairvoyant, who had one hand fidgeting with a beaded-necklace while the other constantly rubbing his fingers against his palm. Makoto also noticed that his temples were rather damp, and some of his dreadlocks were dripping in sweat.

" _Ew, that's… disgusting.._ " Makoto thought as he watched a drop of sweat roll off one of his dreadlocks. " _How does that even work?_ "

As Makoto pondered about the physics of his hair, Yasuhiro finally stopped and pulled out his phone to check the directions again.

"Ok! We're just about there Naegi-Chi. Whew!" Yasuhiro breathed as he ran a hand through his head. He instantly realized how sweaty he was and wiped his now moist hands onto his pants.

"You still haven't told me anything aside from meeting a blonde girl…" Makoto voiced his concern.

"Look, you just gotta trust me on this ok? I may have let you down before, but this won't be one of them!" Yasuhiro now had a small towel that he used to wipe his head. Where was he hiding that?

"*sigh* Hagakure-san, that's not really helping though."

"Please Naegi-Chi! You've walked this far already, you're not going to back out on me now are you?"

"Well…I mean, you did practically drag me here… so I suppose I might as well…"

"How about this? I'll give you a free fortune after we're done!"

Makoto wasn't sure if that was supposed tempt him, after all, his success rate was only 30 percent.

"Tha-That won't be necessary, but lets just get this over with. How close are we?"

Yasuhiro looked at his phone again before pointing into the alley that was in front of them.

"We need to walk in there, and then take the first right. There's supposed to be a door marked with a dragon. The girl told us to knock on it four times."

"W-We're walking into that alley?" Makoto almost screamed, scared from the idea of an arranged meeting in an alley. There are so many things that can go wrong considering that the two were rather defenseless.

Makoto now secretly wished that Mukuro was here with him. Guilt and regret invaded his mind again as he remembered the lie that separated them today.

"She just wants us to meet her through the back, it'll be quick! C'mon!" Yasuhiro said, oblivious to the obvious red flags of meeting in an alley.

The two walked into the darker path, Makoto's eyes darting around looking for potential dangers while Yasuhiro stared at his phone, ignorant of the fact that they could be kidnapped or worse.

When they took the turn on the right, they were met with a few doors along the walls to the side, a dumpster and a dead end. Confusion clouded Yasuhiro and fear swept through Makoto as they realized that none of the doors were marked.

"Huh? I swear, I got the right place." Yasuhiro said as he looked at his phone yet again, trying to confirm their location.

"M-Maybe we should leave before something happens to us Hagakure-san."

"Yeah, but the location is right though. See here? This is definitely the place. Just that, none of the doors are marked. Which one do you think we should try?"

"L-look Hagakure-san, I think we might have made a mistake somewhere. I really don't think this is the right location."

Suddenly, a feminine voice spoke from behind them.

"Oh, I assure you that this is the right location."

The two boys turned and saw a young blonde girl accompanied by eight men, one of them a lot bigger than the rest. For a second, Makoto thought that the girl seemed to resemble one of his upper-classmen but as the reality of his situation sank in, he quickly dismissed that thought.

The girl and her men quickly blocked off their only route of escape, leaving the two boys to slowly backtrack towards the dead end.

"And this time, you're not getting away weedman." The girl said as two of her men approached Yasuhiro.

Yasuhiro was thrusted onto the wall next to the dumpster by two men while two more zoned Makoto into the far wall. One of the glared right into Yasuhiro which left him begging.

"W-Wait! Hold-on! This wasn't part of the arrangement!"

"Are you really in a position to be complaining about the meeting now? Tch, you're fucking stupid. After that stunt you pulled off last time, I'm not taking any chances."

Makoto only grew more and more confused at their situation. Was this the girl they were supposed to meet? Why did she bring eight men with her? Why does she have eight men in the first place? As the girl approached Yasuhiro and reached into her pocket, Makoto decided to try and make some sense of why this was happening.

"W-Wait! What is going on here? Why are you doing this? W-We could talk this out!" He pleaded.

The girl paused, her hand still in her pocket as she turned her head to face him. She analyzed Makoto's figure and noted that his appearance seemed to resemble someone her brother has once spoken of, but she dismissed that thought when she failed to recognize him.

"And who the fuck are you?"

"I-I'm his friend! Please! Don't—"

"Oh? This loser has friends? How stupid of you to have made friends with this braindead fool. I guess similar people attract each other"

"That's not important! You don't have to do 'this' to him!" Makoto vaguely motioned at the two men pinning Yasuhiro onto the wall.

"Shut up. You don't know how much this fuckhead owes me."

"Wha-H-How much does he owe you? A-and what did he do?"

"Huh? Are you sure you're friends with him? Considering that you two dumbasses are friends, I'm surprised he didn't tell you anything. Fine. I'll tell you."

The girl turned and walked over to Makoto. From under his fear of the situation, he was rather surprised that the girl was just barely taller than he was. She looked him in the eyes with a look that would instill fear into most people.

"Simply put, he lied to me and ripped me off. Apparently, I made my first mistake when I decided to go to him looking for a fortune to entertain myself with. For someone as brainless as him, I would have never expected to be scammed. So before I knew it, I was throwing in more and more cash until he left me with an envelope."

Makoto gulped, but still found the courage to ask

"Er-S-So was the fortune?"

The girl looked over her shoulders back at a shaking Yasuhiro, eyes filled with more anger than what seemed possible for a girl her size.

"That 'fortune' he gave me, said this:

'At true noon, Wisteria's flowers blossom near springs of harmony. Its protective vines intolerant of disruption. Stay vigilant and avoid chaos in its presence and peace will be preserved.'

Like all fortunes, they don't make sense. So when I asked him about this, he said he'll clarify it for another ridiculous sum of money, and you know what he said to me?"

The rage built inside the girl seemed like it would explode any second now. Makoto simply shook his ahead, afraid that his words might cause him to become her next victim.

"He said I was going to fucking die if I didn't watch my actions! Like who the hell does he think he is? He started laughing like it was fucking joke! As I was about to beat his face in, he disappeared! For someone with hair like that, it doesn't fucking make sense for how that was even possible!"

She turned and walked back to Yasuhiro, finally pulling out her knife and sticking it under his chin. Makoto stood paralyzed while Yasuhiro stopped shaking as he could feel the tip of the knife at his throat.

"Can't disappear now can you? Now gimme that refund. Where's the money?"

Yasuhiro almost turned blue. "I-I don't have it!" He confessed.

If this was a normal situation, Makoto would've slapped his palm into his forehead. How could you meet someone to repay a debt and not bring the money? Especially if that someone was this girl? However, it seemed that Yasuhiro had something else in mind.

He nervously looked over at Makoto, a hint of despair in his eyes.

"B-But organs sell for a lot on the black market r-right?" Yasuhiro continued.

Makoto now looked confused. "O-Organs? What is he thinking? He's not going to—"

"A-and that's why he's here! It-It's got to be worth more than the money r-right?" Yasuhiro managed to point towards the Luckster as he made his proposal.

Both Makoto and the girl was shocked at his proposition. He felt both fear and betrayal as he realized the true purpose for why Yasuhiro needed him. Part of his self preservation instincts kicked in and wanted to defend himself. However, another part of him thought that Yasuhiro was simply consumed by fear and was spouting non-sense. After all, they were both in a very delicate situation. One wrong move could mean the end of either of them. Fear instantly drowned Makoto's thoughts as one of the men started approaching him but stopped as the girl raised a hand.

Makoto looked back at the girl and was even more scared as she seemed to be more angry than humanly possible.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me! You brought along this 'friend' of yours just so you can offer his organs to save yourself?" She exploded.

"Wh-Huh? I— I thought it would be enough!" Yasuhiro wailed, despair and fear growing in his eyes

"Do you want to know what I hate the most? Traitors, fakers and fucking cowards!"

"AAAAHH! PLEASE! STOP!"

"And you just tried to fucking sell him out! Now you're acting like a coward to save yourself?" She slowly traced her knife down his throat, now on his chest.

"ALRIGHT! I'M SORRY! I JUST DON'T HAVE THE MONEY ANYMORE! PLEASE! LET ME GO!"

"People like you don't deserve to live in this world! You know what? I'll take you on your offer."

She brought her knife down to his stomach.

"We'll take your organs instead."

Makoto froze in horror. Was Yasuhiro going to die right in front of him? Part of him wants to do something about it, but his entire body was paralyzed with fear. Only luck would save him now and Makoto knew that this wasn't going to happen given his track record.

However, he was proven wrong when suddenly, Yasuhiro went limp from passing out in fear. The two men that were holding him down let him drop to the floor with a small thud.

"What a fucking disgrace." She spat as she knelt down, ready to turn him over.

When the girl started kicking Yasuhiro to turn him over, Makoto couldn't take it anymore and decided to hopefully talk her out of this. He reached out and cried:

"W-Wait! J-Just hold on f—OOF" He was quickly met with a punch to his gut.

As Makoto doubled over, he felt another blow to his face, knocking him onto the ground. The girl didn't slow down as she flipped Yasuhiro over and started to take off his jacket.

"Don't interrupt me. You have nothing to do with this."

Makoto struggled and managed to get to a crouching position, one arm still clutching his stomach and the other weakly pointed a finger at the girl.

"N-No! That's wrong!" He said with sudden conviction.

The girl paused and raised a brow at his spontaneous objection. Makoto didn't know what made him say that but he knew he couldn't back out now. He wasn't just going to sit there knowing that Yasuhiro was going to lose a kidney or maybe more. He may have betrayed him, but Makoto still didn't want him dead.

"We're…We're Friends! … At least … I consider him… my friend still! So… I do... have something... to do with this…" Makoto managed to squeeze out in between his pained breaths.

"You still consider this traitorous coward your friend? He offered your organs to us in exchange for his safety." The girl remarked.

"But even still! …. I …I Don't want you to hurt him!"

The girl paused and thought for a second, bringing the knife away from Yasuhiro in the process. Makoto let out a small sigh of relief as he managed to stall the girl for now. Unfortunately, her eyes flashed a hint of deviltry and her lips curved into a sly smile as she seemed to get an idea.

"Hmm, you've got guts kid. We could use those too. In more ways than one." She made a hand motion to the man still in front of him.

"Wha-What?" Fear suddenly consumed Makoto as he now felt himself hoisted into the air by the collar, the pain in his stomach burning intensely from the sudden grab.

"Wait! I- What do you – ARGH!" Makoto felt another blow to his abdomen, knocking out the last of his resistance within him as he attempted to bend over in the air.

"You should just be quiet. It'll be over soon." The man said. He then threw Makoto against the far wall of the dead end and his consciousness started to struggle with keeping track of the events that were happening. What he felt next was a sharp impact to the back of his head and his shoulders before being greeted by the cold, hard pavement.

The pain slowly started choking out Makoto's consciousness. He instinctively curled up into a fetal position in an attempt to lessen the pain, both arms clutching his stomach and him struggling to keep his eyes open.

" _Is… Is this it? I'm going to die…?_ " He thought as he watched the man slowly walk towards him and his sight slowly blurring. From his position, Yasuhiro was no longer in his thinning field of vision. Makoto wasn't sure if it was because he was fading out or if the man was blocking his view.

" _This…. No…. I Can't…. Not …. …. Now …_ " He tried to fight, clawing for ground as he tried to make a final stand against the demands body. Unfortunately, Makoto's stand didn't last long as his eye-lids were getting heavier by the second, and it wasn't long until he finally gave in.

The last thing he registered before closing his eyes, was a sudden flash of light, followed by a scream of sorts and the sound of two thuds.

Using the last of his energy, he re-opened one eye and saw a new pair of legs in front of him, wearing an oddly familiar pair of boots, and the man from earlier grabbing his foot with a look of horror on his face.

Makoto never responded to the concerned cries of his name as he slipped away into the comfort the darkness offered him.


	3. Never One Without the Other

**Never One Without the Other**

Mukuro Ikusaba stood between the SHSL Luckster and his assailants as the man continued to cry out in pain on the floor. She glanced behind her, at the unconscious curled up body of Makoto Naegi and feeling the multiple spears of despair stab at her. How could she have let this happen?

Time seemed to freeze as she reflected upon the events of the day. She remembered trusting him and leaving him on his own. She remembered going with Junko on her spontaneous shopping trip. She remembered the moment she starting sprinting away down the streets and how she had her own mission briefing in her head while she dashed towards the target location.

That mission was to locate Makoto Naegi and to provide overwatch over him once found. Any harm that comes to the VIP was unacceptable, and all potential threats were to be eliminated.

" _… Naegi-kun dislikes the idea of me killing…_ " Mukuro thought as she mentally changed the plan from eliminating threats to disabling them.

She recalled the coordinates on Yasuhiro's phone from earlier today. Even though she was at least twenty meters away, when she looked over at him, her skills as a soldier allowed her to take in every detail in her surrounding environment as the potential for danger could be anywhere. Mukuro looked around, comparing the coordinates to her current location. There was still some fifteen blocks to her target.

Soon enough, she spotted the familiar ahoge and mess of dreadlocks from several blocks away as the two boys walked into the alley. Mukuro considered her options, time was running out as she continued to close the distance between the SHSL Luckster and herself.

If she followed them from behind, there was the chance that they would already be cut off by a threat. She could go in 'guns blazing' as one would put it if the threat was imminent, but she also knew that Makoto disliked violence so she dismissed that option. There was a chance that the VIP could be harmed in the chaos anyways.

Mukuro then considered that she could enter one of the stores and make her way to the back, one of the doors would surely lead to the same alleyway and allow her to watch over him from the shadows. However, she was bad at handling social interactions. What if the employees catch her? Surely she could just knock them out but that would cause a later problem. Deciding that this course of action would be too problematic, she reconsidered her approach again.

Mukuro looked around, surveying other possible ways into the alley. A pipe that ran along the height of the building caught her eye, the option to scale the building and watch over from above seemed to get better every passing second. It would give her a greater field of vision as well as dropping down to intervene if necessary. With that in mind, she approached the pipe and started climbing upwards.

When she reached the top, she looked around to make sure there were no threats to her immediate position. Once satisfied with her analysis, she walked over to the other side of the roof and looked down. Her eyes widened as she saw Makoto in mid air flying into the far wall and a man almost twice his size followed him.

Her instincts kicked into overdrive as she threw herself over the roof. In her rapid descent, she whipped out one of her knives and aimed it at the man, subconsciously controlling herself to not kill him in the process. The knife pierced his foot in mid-step and he fell backwards as Mukuro landed in between him and Makoto. For a second, she completely forgot about the other seven men and the girl as she looked behind her and cried out his name. She never knew that her voice could carry so much emotion until this moment.

"Makoto? Makoto!" Mukuro didn't even care that she was using his first name. She just wanted to make sure he was still alive and she wasn't too late. Upon hearing no response, she quickly knelt down and examined his body for signs of life and injuries. The soldier let out a sigh of relief when she figured out that death was not a threat to him, but he will be in pain for the next few days.

Mukuro now found herself glaring at the rest of the men as she stood between them and Makoto. Since her arrival, the girl has stepped away from Yasuhiro's body, and the rest of the men took a defensive position in front of her, waiting for further orders. The man that was on the ground has already crawled back to the group and leaned against a wall as another bandaged his foot.

The girl wasted no time and went straight to the point, frustrated from being interrupted a second time today.

"Another one? You're interrupting something here miss." She stated.

Mukuro narrowed her eyes at the girl as she concluded that she was likely in command of the rest. As she analyzed her, Mukuro subconsciously thought there was something familiar about the girl but she had her priorities. Diplomacy wasn't her strength, but protecting those she cared about was. And so, Mukuro let out a persona that she would have never expected to come out.

"And you, hurt him." Mukuro said coldly as she gestured to the boy behind her.

"So? What are you? His lapdog? You might as well be."

Mukuro's eyes only narrowed more at the comment. Anger boiled within her as she raised her hand and extended her knife. Though no words were spoken, her actions made it clear that she intends to walk out of here with Makoto in one piece.

The girl glared back at Mukuro knowing that she wasn't going to let her 'extra prize' so she bargained:

"Alright look here bitch. I know you're only here for that one." She pointed at Makoto. "And I have business with this one. You take him, and I get him, then we never saw each other."

Mukuro considered it for a second. Normally she wouldn't have cared about what happened to Yasuhiro on a daily basis, but figured that Makoto would have taken the chance to save him. And if he was willing to save him, Mukuro would be more than happy to aid him. Besides she reasoned, if she didn't save Yasuhiro, Makoto might take it out on himself and after already allowing so much to happen to him, that was not an option.

"That one is coming with me too." Mukuro pointed over at Yasuhiro.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"I am not."

"Then it can't be helped." The girl motioned to her men and they started to spread out, slowly approaching Mukuro. While the men walked towards the soldier, she reached down towards Yasuhiro again. Just as her hand was about to touch the body, a knife flew right between them, grazing her palm in the process as it embedded itself into the side of the dumpster.

"What the FUCK!" She exploded.

She turned and saw Mukuro glaring back at her, another knife in her hand as she made her demands clear. The dragon girl and angel of death stared into each other's eyes for a second, starting an silent conversation between the two. Eyes narrowed and demands were exchanged. Mukuro stood her ground, her knife still extended towards the girl as she also stood defiantly facing the soldier. When neither of them yielded, the girl finally spoke:

"Alright kill this bitch. Make sure she regrets this."

Mukuro watched as the men now spread out, ready to take her down. The smaller men were in the front, a couple of them seem eager to strike while the big one stood in the back, likely waiting for the right moment. She carefully analyzed each of their fighting capabilities from their behaviour. She shifted one foot behind the other, her knife still extended forward, daring the men to attack her.

Four of them seemed to be no problem. Their stance, behaviour and slight nervousness all suggested that they were not experienced fighters. The fifth one had a slightly more proper stance and a couple scars on his face and the sixth man seemed a little too relaxed for their current situation. The seventh man, the largest of the group was obviously going to be a problem. Towering over Mukuro at a height of 240 centimeters, and muscles showing all over his body, she knew that this one would be problematic. She was also outnumbered 7 to 1 so she would need some space to fight them all, or to stay on the move so she can't be swarmed all at once.

As she finished her analysis, the two men in the front suddenly rushed at her, one after another. The man in front had pulled out a knife and started a thrusting motion as he had his elbow tucked in. Mukuro pivoted on the spot to avoid the knife, placed a hand on his head and quickly slammed the first man into the wall as he passed her original position. As his face collided into the brick surface, Mukuro was about to plunge her knife into his head when Makoto's face briefly flashed before her eyes. She smashed her fist into the back of his head, causing him to hit the wall again and knocking him out in the process.

Before the man could go limp, Mukuro was already onto the other one still rushing at her. She fished out the previous man's Nokia before she released him and threw it at the second man's jewels. As he doubled over from the sudden pain, a knee came to his face and the world went upside-down before the darkness hit him. Both unconscious bodies and the Nokia hit the ground in rapid succession, the phone in better shape than the men.

As the rest of them were still reacting, Mukuro was already onto the third target. He never stood a chance as she grabbed him and quickly pinned him onto the opposite wall. He barely registered the fist that would send him three ways to Monday. While she was dealing with the third man, the fourth and the fifth decided to try a joint attack with her back turned.

Mukuro was prepared for this as she jumped towards the wall where the third man once occupied, kicked off and with a graceful backflip, landed behind her two assailants. However, the sixth fighter didn't give her a chance to strike at the two men who were still slightly dazed from her sudden acrobatics. He swung his knife at the back of her head, causing Mukuro to duck. She quickly countered with a spinning kick but the man blocked it and reacted with a kick of his own, aimed at her other foot planted on the ground. Mukuro pushed off the ground with her remaining foot, twisted in the air and brought it down towards his head.

The force of the impact had knocked him forward, and Mukuro wasted no time landing on top of him with fist to his back, and a hand on his head, smashing him into the pavement. The two men had been watching but unable to join the fight from their constant movement. They were still trying to process everything as Mukuro looked up towards them.

The man with the scars decided to throw his knife at her the instant she raised her head. It was not his lucky day as he saw that same knife, fly back towards his partner, butt first into his nose. His partner recoiled, and in the process stumbled backwards. The scarred man's eyes widened as a blur of black hair whipped past him and smashed his partner into the wall. He could barely react as he felt himself pulled forward, spun around and suddenly falling. Instead of hitting the pavement however, he felt his head land onto a soft leather hand. Confused, he opened his eyes and saw the blue skies for a second before a fist came crashing down on him repeatedly until darkness took him away.

As Mukuro released the scarred man, now with a broken nose and blood oozing out, she spun around and faced the large man. With surprising speed, the man ran at her with intent to ram her into the dead end. She barely jumped out of the way, but her eyes widened as she calculated that, the man wouldn't be able to stop himself from trampling Makoto who was still on the ground by the far wall. She was about to throw her knife when she heard another person enter the scene from above, landing between the man and Makoto.

By some force of nature, this person's sudden entrance from above was enough to stop the large man from running into her as he managed to plant his foot down, stopping all forward momentum and creating a small crack on the pavement. He seemed to be very confused and slightly intimidated by their sudden presence. Before Mukuro could identify the new challenger, a familiar voice spoke out.

"Natsumi-Sama, I think that would be enough today"

Mukuro watched as Peko Pekoyama, one of her usual sparring partners at school, walked out from behind the large man towards the girl.

"Great! Now that you're here, I need you to dispose of this bitch. She had the nerve to do this to me." Natsumi opened her grazed palm and pointed at the knife still embedded into the dumpster.

Peko glanced over at Mukuro and noticed the intensity she's emitting.

"I wouldn't recommend getting on her bad side master. Also, she is one of my preferred sparring partners at school. I would not wish to lose a valuable partner like that."

Mukuro looked over at Peko when she realized that Peko was helping her. It was true that Peko was one of her sparring partners, but that was the only connection between them. She didn't know Peko would consider her valuable in a sense nor expect her to understand the state of mind she's in.

Natsumi glared at Peko and growled:

"Are you saying you're not going to listen to me? The punishment for—"

"The young master has sent me to follow you after he noticed that you had borrowed some men. He ordered me to maintain your safety and my sparring partner here, is a rather skilled and potent fighter. If you got on her bad side and she went after you, even I would have difficulty guaranteeing your safety."

Natsumi opened her mouth ready to make a retort, but decided against it as she instead faced Mukuro.

"FUCK! Fine. Its your lucky day. Tell him he's off the hook but don't think I would forget this." She snarled as Peko's men started recovering the bodies of their unconscious comrades around her.

At this point, Yasuhiro also regained his consciousness as his body stirred. He sat up with confusion on his face before horror overtook him from the sight of bodies being hauled off by scary looking men. He nearly screamed as Natsumi walked over to him and said:

"Listen here you fucking idiot, you're off the hook this time." She narrowed her eyes at him as she continued. "But if I find out you're scamming more people or betraying your friends, I'm coming back for you."

Yasuhiro was still too stunned for words. Unable to speak, he nodded his head as he took in the scene in front of him. The last of Peko's men have extracted the bodies and Natsumi had also turned and left. Peko gave Mukuro a slight bow before following Natsumi. He looked around and noticed that the alley looked a little different than from he last saw. Most notably the presence of blood all over the place, the crack on the ground and the knife that was embedded into the dumpster next to him.

The Clairvoyant gave a startled cry of shock as he finally pieced together what had possibly happened and looked back at Mukuro. There was some blood on her hands and right knee, and her school uniform was ruffled up from the fighting. Fear overtook him as he noticed the intense look she gave him.

"AGH! I..I..uh..Did you.." Yasuhiro started but couldn't make out the words. He didn't even know what he wanted to say as he continued to blabber out nonsense.

Mukuro's soldier instincts finally died down as the clairvoyant stood there stuttering out broken sentences. He was visibly shaken and had pressed his back to wall from the scene. Realizing that his continual presence in this place would be bad for his psyche, she told him:

"Leave."

As the command left her mouth, Yasuhiro stopped talking and stared at her. He seemed to understand the simple command since he started nodding and proceeded to walk away, his stuttering returning as soon as he turned his back. Mukuro wasn't sure if he would make it back to his dorm safely in his current state, but thought that it was highly unlikely that someone would try to attack him in broad day light.

Mukuro was left alone with an unconscious Makoto as Yasuhiro left the scene. She turned and knelt down to him, both hands bawled into fists as she looked at his curled up figure. The soldier cursed quietly at herself for not arriving sooner for perhaps, she may have been able to prevent this. She looked over his body once more, making sure nothing has changed from her initial inspection. The pained face Makoto wore in his current state stabbed away at Mukuro's heart as her eyes moved towards his head.

" _Why Makoto? Why?_ " She thought as she lifted him into a sitting position, leaning his body against the wall. She draped his arms over her shoulders and lifted him onto her back, beginning the long trek back towards Hope's Peak Academy.

* * *

The streets were quiet as the orange rays of sunlight plastered the streets and the sight of a young girl carrying a boy on her back was the only sign of humanity in the area. From the outside, it would seem like an older sister carrying her sleeping brother home, but nobody would be able to see the internal storm of emotions that was raging inside of her, masked by a soft, expressionless face. Mukuro felt the conflicting emotions taking up arms again, and re-engaged themselves in a battle of uncertainty. She kept her gaze towards the floor as the war waged on for what seemed like a constant tug-of-war, a never ending struggle. The conflict subsided a little as the boy on her back started stirring from his slumber.

Mukuro had walked three blocks before Makoto started regaining consciousness. As the boy slowly woke up, Mukuro looked at him with concern and surprise, not expecting him to awaken so fast.

"M-Makoto?" She instinctively said.

The boy in question raised his head and looked around. The area around him looked familiar, but why was he in motion? And why did his stomach hurt? He groaned in pain as the memories throughout the day started flooding back towards him. He remembered being flung against the wall and falling onto the pavement, and he also remembered the man on the ground in pain.

"Makoto?" Mukuro repeated herself, her voice filled with concern. It was rare for the soldier to sound like a normal schoolgirl, but that was the least of her worries right now.

The boy reacted to his name, and finally realized he was being carried. He paused as he recognized the person, his classmate, his friend and saviour. The person he had lied to in an attempt to shoulder things himself. The guilt from earlier today returned to haunt him.

"I-Ikusaba-san?"

"Ah.. Yes Ma…Naegi-Kun. Its me."

"Er, What happened?"

"…. It's alright now Naegi-kun. I'm bringing you back to your room."

"…. Are you mad at me?"

"… Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"…."

They continued in silence for another block. Makoto felt the guilt and regret rising as he rode on Mukuro's back. He had tried to slip out from her grip, but she would glare at him for attempting escape so he stayed put. The feeling of being a liability grew with each step she took, but at this same time, he also felt relieved and happy that he was this close this to her.

"Ikusaba-san…"

"…"

"I'm sorry for lying to you. I didn't want to become a burden to you so I… tried to do things myself this time… and I must have made you worry so much about me.. and I'm very sorry…."

"…."

Makoto's heart dropped as Mukuro slowed down until she came to a halt. She didn't turn her head to face him as her gaze was still directed at the floor and Makoto thought that any moment now, there will be no turning back for him. He mentally prepared himself as Mukuro started shaking slightly.

"Naegi-Kun." She said with a broken voice.

Makoto flinched at her voice. It was a voice that he had never heard before and it only made his heart feel more heavy as she continued to shake.

"Jus- Just don't do this again" She continued.

At this point, he didn't need to look at her face to realize that there were tears streaming from her eyes. He looked away in shame as he realized how much he had worried her, how betrayed she felt and how much he mattered to her. In the moment, his grip tightened around her and he lowered his head onto her shoulder, causing her to gasp in surprise.

"I'm very sorry. I didn't know I caused so much trouble." He said.

"You…You better be…" She sniffed.

In that moment, both of them understood what messages the other wanted to convey. Words weren't needed as they found it easier to forgive than to continue their distrust. Their storms of emotions faded away and the guilt they each had slowly melted into forgiveness and relief. Makoto tightened his embrace around Mukuro's neck as she turned and looked at him with teary eyes. He returned the look with an apologetic smile and reached towards her face. She blushed at his touch as he wiped the tears from her face and gave her a silent smile before lowering his head onto her shoulder again.

When Mukuro stopped shaking and composed herself, she resumed their slow journey back, completely forgetting the world around them. Makoto closed his eyes, the pain in his stomach still present, and Mukuro lifted him a bit higher so that he can get a more comfortable position on her shoulder.

Warm feelings of bliss bloomed slowly as they embraced each other's presence. Before long, the two of them could feel the increased heartbeat of the other causing blushes to form on their faces. Makoto unknowingly nudged his head towards her as he found a more comfortable spot closer to Mukuro's neck, and she smiled, welcoming the touch. They endured another couple blocks of blissful silence, before Makoto decided to speak up as a certain feeling started nagging him.

"Ikusaba-san?"

"Hm?"

"Um… Why did you choose to protect me all this time?"

Makoto swore he could feel her heart beat faster at the question. He felt her shoulders stiffen, followed by a sigh before she answered:

"B-Because…. I …." She paused. She wasn't sure how to word her answer. There were many ways to convey the meaning of enjoying one's company, but to Mukuro, it didn't feel like it was enough. There was something a little more to just enjoying his company, something more than just being content when he was around. Everything around her froze as she searched for the words she wanted to say.

She knew there was a reason that she wanted to protect him all this time, but couldn't put it into words as it was just a feeling. A warm feeling. A feeling that sparks many others within her. Joy, Excitement, Relief, Comfort, Trust were among the few that she was able to work out and she knew that there was also more to it.

In the moments where his luck would betray him, she would feel a sudden jolt of adrenaline, a need to act, a need to protect him. And the relief and joy and other warm feelings that follow from guaranteeing his safety made her want to do it again. Makoto was special to her and she wanted to treasure him.

Makoto was the first person aside from her sister to ever smile at her, acknowledge her as a person and not a disposable pawn of war. He was the first person to want to talk to her and get to know her better. The first person to invite her to study, to eat lunch, to play games together. He was the first person to ever find her in a vulnerable state of mind when Junko went missing for a day, and offered his comfort and aid to help find her. Aside from Junko, Makoto Naegi was the first person to a lot of things to Mukuro, and she wants to keep it that way.

Mukuro would treasure every experience she had with him, especially his smiles. If there was ever something that could offer more comfort than her favourite combat knife, it would be his smile. The sight of it would calm her down like a drug. All her worries would be released for a little bit as she would be occupied in a moment of bliss. The smile would pop up in her vision every now and then whenever she felt down, or conflicted and it would guide her to make the right decisions.

So did she just enjoy his company? No. There was more to it, and as she reflected upon her friendship with Makoto Naegi, the words she was searching for became clearer. And when she found the words, it felt very foreign to her as it both excites her to say it, but also terrifying. It's also the first time she'll say those words to another person. Another thing Makoto would be a first to.

Mukuro turned and looked at him, her cheeks dusted red as she finally answered:

"Because I like you Makoto." She didn't even realize that she used his first name in her confession.

Makoto gasped at both her confession and the usage of his first name. He was shocked at first, but it also felt, nice to hear her address him that way. More importantly, he felt his heart melt as she reciprocated his feelings. Though he never acknowledged it before, he had to admit that he has infatuated by her for a while now. He rubbed one hand behind his neck as he said:

"Ah, you used my first name…"

"Oh! I'm-I'm sorry, I didn't notice… ah..I—" She started, embarrassed by her slip up.

"It's ok. I like it. Is it alright if I called you Mukuro?"

She turned away, blushing madly at their current conversation and naturally looked at the floor in an attempt to hide her red cheeks.

"I…. yes. I would like that."

"Then… I like you too Mukuro"

Mukuro gasped as he returned the sentiment and turned to look back at him. His cheeks were also dusted red and his face was painted with the ever-so familiar smile that she has grown to like. Makoto then yawned before resting his head onto her shoulder again. Through some force of nature, Mukuro nudged her cheek against his, causing him to gasp in shock before nudging her back. She smiled in comfort throughout the rest of the journey back to Hope's Peak Academy.

* * *

The two teens later found themselves sitting on Makoto's bed, neither wanting to leave the other. Mukuro had her arms around Makoto as he leaned comfortably into her. They had sat in comfortable silence after the events of the day and the spilling of their pent up emotions. Finally, Makoto broke the quiet atmosphere:

"Mukuro, I owe you a lot for what you've done for me. I intend to pay you back one day"

Mukuro's heart fluttered. A certain feeling started boiling within her and was compelling her to do something.

"How so?"

"Hmm… I guess I could start by treating you to some comfort food?"

She looked down at him and took in his appearance, his scent, his smile. She didn't know why her body decided to act on its own, but with one hand, she lifted his chin, making him look at her.

"That won't be necessary."

She inched closer.

"Huh?" Makoto's eyes widened.

She inched closer again, still not knowing why this was happening, but she didn't try to stop it.

"Just….. be with me." She whispered, her breath tickling his lips.

And in the next instant, their lips touched. A physical connection made, an emotional storm cleared, and a debt finally paid off.

 **Author's Notes:**

Hey guys! Thanks for reading this! If you clicked this in the 10 minutes that this was uploaded, I apologize for the mess that happened since I'm still figuring out how this works.  
(I tried to copy-paste this from AO3..)

Moving on, this is my first fic and I don't intend to stop here. Please tell me if you liked this or if you didn't! It means a lot that fellow Naekusaba shippers can give me some feedback xD (Speaking of which, this needs to be more popular)

Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed this and enjoy your day guys!


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